The Amazing Prophecy of the 70 Weeks of Daniel
When the Jewish prophet Daniel was taken into exile in Babylon in 605 BC, Solomon’s Temple stood proudly in Jerusalem. Its destruction came 19 years later. Construction of the Second Temple did not begin for another 50 years, about the time of Daniel’s death (536 BC); and 2,500 years later, a third Temple has yet to be built.
Yet Daniel clearly was told (Dan. 9:20–23) of two future Temples in such rich prophetic detail that 9:24–27 is considered the greatest chronological prophecy in the Hebrew Scriptures. For example, it foresees the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple and their destruction again, this time at the hands of Rome. It foresees the Messiah and His death, the Antichrist, the Tribulation, and the Tribulation Temple; and it is so succinct that it provides a key to understanding the New Testament book of Revelation.
Both Christian and Jewish theologians agree that each “week” in the prophecy represents seven years. Thus, 70 weeks constitute 490 years. The prophecy divides the weeks into three sections: 7 weeks (49 years), 62 weeks (434 years), and 1 week (7 years). (A prophetic year consists of 360 days.)
The beginning point is 445 BC, when Persian King Artaxerxes gave Nehemiah the command to rebuild Jerusalem after the Babylonians destroyed it in 586 BC (Neh. 2:5). Here is the prophecy of the 70 weeks of Daniel (Dan. 9:24–27):
Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.
And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off [die], but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.
Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.
“As with many prophecies,” wrote Bible commentator David M. Levy, “a time gap exists. Here the gap shows up between the 69th and 70th weeks.”1 He explained:
After the Messiah’s death and resurrection, God stopped the countdown and inserted the Church Age, the age of grace, which will end with the Rapture when He removes His church from Earth. Then the Antichrist (“the prince who is to come,” v. 26) will appear and confirm a strong, binding covenant with Israel for “one week” (the final seven years). This is the 70th week of Daniel.2
The Hebrew Scriptures call these seven years “the time of Jacob’s [Israel’s] trouble” (Jer. 30:7). The New Testament calls them the Tribulation (Mt. 24:29; Mk.13:19, 24).
ENDNOTES
- David M. Levy, “What Is the 70th Week of Daniel?” Israel My Glory 83, no. 1 (Jan/Feb 2025) (tinyurl.com/IMG70thweek).
- Ibid.
